Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Lincoln Park Shopping Center

Sears and Dollar Tree are the only shopping center businesses that remain operating as of 2015. A Big Boy restaurant and a Bank of America branch are located on out-parcels in front of the shopping center.

Lincoln Park Shopping Center, Lincoln Park, Michigan

In 1957 the Detroit suburb of Lincoln Park welcomed a brand new shopping center with 30 stores, 3,000 parking spots, and over 600,000 square feet of interior space with great fanfare. The shopping center was one of the largest, if not the largest shopping center in the Southern Detroit area, for over ten years until the mall building craze finally reached the southern part of Detroit around 1970. A majority of the shopping center was located in Lincoln Park, while Albert's Market and Detroit Typewriter Mart were located behind Sears and within the limits of neighboring Allen Park. There is a list on another site of the 30 original tenants of the Lincoln Park Shopping Center.

Sears opened a year before the rest of the shopping center (1956). Throughout the 1960s, the Sears store was one of the top grossing stores in the chain; in fact it was number one for some time. Due to the massive amount of business, Sears added onto its auto center during the 1960s. That expansion brought the store to its current size of 277,218 square feet; which made it one of the largest Sears stores at the time. The Sears store is still one of the largest in the chain nearly 60 years later.

By the mid 1980s it was clear the Lincoln Park Shopping Center would need to update itself in order to keep thriving. A number of malls were built in the Detroit area and took some business away from the shopping center. Kroger had also left the shopping center for a "greenhouse style" store a mile south on Dix Highway. That Kroger later moved across the road from the Lincoln Park Shopping Center in the 1990s where it remains today. There were also other sizable vacancies in the shopping center. One thing was clear; the shopping center needed to bring in more anchor stores if it was ever going to be a powerhouse again. So in the 1980s the shopping center did just that.

The shopping center was renovated, the movie theater was expanded to eight screens, and a number of new stores moved in. Some of those new stores were Dunham's Sporting Goods (in the old Kroger space) and an F&M Super Drug store that was built from the ground-up near Dix Highway. Behind Sears the Albert's Market was razed and Farmer Jack took over part of the Detroit Typewriter / Giant office Equipment building; using the space where Albert's was as a parking lot. In 1995 the shopping center's last remodel happened. I believe both KB Toy Works and Old Navy opened around that time. The Lincoln Park Shopping Center broke into the 21st century with an occupancy rate around 100 percent.

Lincoln Park Shopping Center Today

The strip mall area

Rest of the strip mall not pictured in first shot.

Throughout the 2000s and into the 2010s, stores left the shopping center one by one until only Sears and Dollar Tree were left. Some closures were due to company bankruptcies; this was the case with Harmony House (2002) and KB Toy Works (closed in a wave of closings in 2007 / 2008 when the company was emerging from bankruptcy). Other retail stores such as RadioShack, Dunham's, Old Navy, and GameStop moved to other nearby shopping centers. Stores such as Famous Footwear and GNC closed without relocating because other stores were fairly close by. Independent businesses either closed or moved elsewhere. Walmart had wanted to build a store at the shopping center since around 2007. According to those plans the strip mall and the old Giant Office Equipment store would have been demolished and a supercenter would have been constructed on the property. Another retailer planned to open in the former Farmer Jack store. The Walmart plans all fell through do to a legal dispute between the shopping center and Sears over who owns the delivery easement behind the strip mall. It was found that Sears still owns that part of the land; which essentially gave Sears the power to block Walmart's plans. Today much of the shopping lies vacant and in disrepair.Here are some pictures of the Lincoln Park Shopping Center from January 2015

Relic from Elmars Restuarant; one of the original tenants from 1957!

Now let's look at the shopping center's stores...
These pictures are arranged from the stores furthest right to Sears, then the stores behind Sears in Allen Park.

Former F&M Super Drug

Former Dunham's Sporting Goods; originally Kroger

Former Dunham's Sporting Goods; originally Kroger

Former Dunham's Sporting Goods; originally Kroger

Former China Buffet (not a very creative name!)

Former China Buffet

Former FuncoLand / GameStop

Former One Price Clothing Store

Former One Price Clothing Store

Former Harmony House - closed 2002

Former Harmony House - closed 2002

Former Famous Footwear

Former Famous Footwear

The last store left in the strip mall. This was Dress Barn previously

Former President Tuxedo

Former President Tuxedo

Former Payless Shoesource

Former Payless Shoesource

Former RadioShack

Former RadioShack

Former Imperial Sports / FootAction USA

Former Imperial Sports / FootAction USA

Former GNC

Former GNC

Former GNC

Original Dollar Tree location (blueprints of shopping center in box!)

Original Dollar Tree location (relocated into former Dress Barn store)

Original Dollar Tree location (relocated into former Dress Barn store)

Former Star Theatres Lincoln Park 8- closed 2003

Former Star Theatres Lincoln Park 8 - closed 2003

Former Old Navy

Former Old Navy

Former Old Navy

Former KB Toy Works

Former KB Toy Works

Former Sunrise Fashions

Former Sunrise Fashions

Former Avenue

Former Avenue

Former Avenue's back door

Former Rainbow (ironically has a black, white, and gray interior)

Former Rainbow

Former Rainbow

Former Sibley Shoes

Former Sibley Shoes

Former BoRics Salon

Former BoRics' backdoor

Former Dots

Former Dots

Former Homestead Maytag

Former Homestead Maytag

Former Hallmark

Former Hallmark

Former Hallmark

Former Complete Rehab

Yes, a Sears Water Tower!

Sears Auto Center

The back of Sears

The back of Sears

Former Farmer Jack grocery Store

Former Farmer Jack grocery store

Sign directing people behind building for the former Giant Office Equipment store

Former Detroit Typewriter / Giant Office Equipment

Also, there is a Big Boy restaurant on an out-parcel in front of the shopping center. Detroit is one of the few areas that still has a fairly decent concentration of Big Boy restaurants still open. On other out-parcels there are a Bank of America branch and a Former Wendy's restaurant (relocated nearby), but I must have missed getting pictures of those places.

Thanks for viewing! If you have anything you would like to add to the story about the Lincoln Park Shopping Center please feel free to comment below; anonymous comments are welcome!

32 comments:

Thanks for making this. I've seen the LPSC many times and was most recently there back in December 2014 as a result of me realizing that Sears was the only place in this half of the country that actually carried apparel based on the animated television series Mixels.

It's sad to see what the LPSC has had become. You should check out the Southgate Shopping Center, which is about five miles south and has had a similar history.

I have heard of the Sears Tower, but I've never seen a Sears water tower before. I would not be surprised if Sears sold water towers in their old catalogs. Anyway, thanks for the detailed overview of this shopping center. I'm glad to see more coverage of Sears locations on this blog too. It's certainly encouraging that the Sears parking lot was full when you took the pictures. The Sears Auto Center looks quiet though. Is it still open? I know you said that this was a strong performing Sears back in the day, but is it still a strong performer today?

I believe the Sears is still a decent performing store. I don't know any sales figures or anything like that about the store though. The fact that Sears fought off Walmart from opening at the shopping center seems to speak volumes in my opinion. Why would Sears go through all the legal trouble if the store was not highly profitable or was going to close in the coming years? I am pretty sure the auto center is still open; the entry door likely does not open until a car pulls up to it.

The auto center is still open. Idk if business is doing well there, but I think it's decent. There's another place like this. The Lincoln Park Plaza right around the corner. Eyesore, but looks like it was once beautiful. Idk about the history of the place or anything. Just seems like it'd be the same type of story. I remember in the late '80's as a kid going to the LPSC. It was awesome.

Lincoln Park shopping center had a block buster, fashion bug, farmer jacks, and fitness usa. (All out of business) They had a CVS and JCpenny move to better locations. It was a happening area all that's left is a dollar tree and a Ace. So sad to see the vacancy.

This is so sad to look back and remember it in its glory days! My friends and I spent so much time at the LPSC and Sears. I remember when Kresges was in there along with Three Sisters, Marianne's (Big Boys was part of the strip mall down by Dunhams sporting goods and back in the day, we shopped as a family all the time at Farmer Jack!

Sad that all of these stores are gone now however... I would think that having a Walmart built and move in to the area would be better than all of these falling down dilapidated buildings. Just saying. I love Sears and I hope they never close.

my brother and I used to ride our bikes up there to eat at the China Buffet, and then go see a movie at the Star Cinema. A lot of great memories. It's tough to see how time has changed a place that used to be so busin telling the Thanks for showing the pictures in telling the story.

Randomly stumbled on the site via this piece http://www.businessinsider.com/dead-fast-food-restaurants-2015-7 and immediately checked to see if you had anything in Michigan, my old stomping grounds. To my surprise, you had the shopping center I grew up right near. The LPSC was my first real taste of retail. It was the central focus of all my retail purchases until I was old enough to go to Southland Mall with my friends. Nicely done.

Used to work in the Sears stockroom in the 1960's. Father taught me how to drive on snow in the parking! There was a Kowalski meat store on the corner opposite of Sears. Yum!Quandt Park was right around the corner.Great job going back in time.

Used to about live there in the 60's and 70's. My BF and I used to go to Sears, buy a bag of warm cashews and bum around. My mom and dad shopped there as it was one of the only places to shop in the 60's. No Southland or Fairlane. I remember a Sanders being there, not far from Cunningham's, sitting at the counter and having a milk shake. Or at the counter at Kresge's for french fries and cokes. We'd get in a little trouble(just kids stuff) and then go watch softball games over at Quandt park in the evenings. Lots of good memories. Sad to see it go this way.

Great photos. Wish someone had pics of the older stores that used to be there prior to the ones you have listed. I still remember Kowalski's, the typewriter store, Willow Tree, Three Sisters, Winkleman's, Kresge, Hughes and Hatcher (?), Cunningham's, and Meyer's Jewelry.

That place is very surreal. Strange that Sears hasn't closed the place since it for the most part has few customers. They do still sell some unique tools only found in sets elsewhere, but are out of stock of many basics. It was mentioned that Sears owns a portion of the easement behind the stores, but must be leasing the store itself. One would think the owner of the property would want them out. Perhaps Sears has a contract which gives them the option to renew for as long as they wish. Nonetheless, they have to be losing money. The Kmart on Van Born is closing at the end of July 2016 and it gets many more customers than the Sears. Kmart may own that land and could sell or lease it to whomever takes over the MASCO building when they move to Livonia.

I was told by a few folks who worked there in the 60's that there was a restaurant on the upper floor of the building. Sears had some odd looking stores like this one which resembles an old office building instead of a retail store. Stores in older Chicago neighborhoods also have that design.

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